Venetian blind



Jan. 22, 1952 B, WALKER 2,583,031

VENETIAN BLIND Filed July 3, 1950 IN V EN TOR.

Patented Jan. 22, 1952 UNITED STATES, PATENT OFFICE VENETIAN BLIlVD I Brooks Walker; Piedmont, .Calii'. Application July 3, 1950, Serial No. 171,857

This invention pertains to a Venetian blind" and, particularly, to ladder tape for a Venetian blind and its operation in connection with offset lift cords, as shown in my Patent No. 2,200,349.

When offset lift cords are used, with one next to the side member of one ladder tape and near tape from moving inwardly. With plastic tape,

and with some types of fabric tapes, foldingout- .wardly at every slat supporting station offers some difliculty in accumulation. It is the object of this invention to eliminate this difliculty by providingmoulded cutouts, or stamped in cutouts, or woven in cutouts, which allow the side members of the ladder tape to fold inwardly between two slats, and outwardly around two slats, and inwardly between two slats, et cetera, substantially as shown in the Kuyper Patent 2,017,541, which is the conventional method when center lift cords are used.

Another object of the invention is to provide ladder tapes with symmetrical appearance by placing identical cutouts on both sides of the tape whether or not the lift cords are adjacent to the tape, or by placing impressions formed in the sides of the tapes which are not next to the lift cords to give the same general appearance as the cutout and associated cord on the opposite side of the tapes.

Other objects of the invention will be more clearly pointed out in the accompanying specifications and claims.

I have illustrated my invention by way of ex-- ample in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly cut away, showing one form ofthe invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the lower portion of the blind, with part of the slats shown in their accumulated position, and with the tape folded according to this invention taken at section 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the ladder tape with perforations on both the front and rear side members of the ladder tape.

In all figures, like numerals of reference refer to corresponding parts.

In Figures 1 and 2, l. have shown a Venetian blind having a head rail l0, supporting tilt mechanism ll, end support 12, and cord lock I3 which rotatably support tilt rail I5 through pivot support a and cord lock connector lSb. Tilt rail 15 supports ladder tapes 2. and 2! which,

in" turn, support slats 5 in spaced relationship for Figure 1', and also in 20a, 20b, and Ne in ladder tape 20 of Figure 1. These cutouts, in line with the offset lift cords such as 3| (where they are in line with me, 2 lb, and 2 lc) allow the ladder tape to be accumulated so that theladder tape can fold inwardly in between the two slats immediately above and below the cutout, such as 2 la. Zlb, and 2lc, when the blind is raised and the slats are accumulated together best shown in Figure 2. It may be desirable from an appearance standpoint to have cutouts on both the front and the rear side members of the ladder tapes of each ladder tape so that they will have a symmetrical appearance. It may also be desirable to mould in a thin section of the ladder tape, similar to the cutout, with the appearance on the thin section similar to that of a lift cord being in back of a cutout, and if this is desirable, it could be done with plastic tape. It is also desirable that the reinforcing fibers commonly used in plastic ladder tape, such as We in Figure 3, preferably pass along side of the cutouts 40a and 40b and provide suitable strength and resistance to stretch in the side members of the ladder tape.

I do not wish in any way to limit myself to the exact details or mode of operation set forth in the specifications and drawings, for it will be obvious that departure may be made in the way of details without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention which is set forth in the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A Venetian blind ladder tape made of flexible material and having ladder rungs and side members, an offset lift cord, cutouts in said tape side members wide enough to clear said lift cord, said cutouts being between alternate slat supporting ladder rung stations so that the cutouts would be between alternate slat supporting ladder rungs and extend substantially between the slat spacing provided by said ladder rungs.

2. A Venetian blind ladder tape having slat supporting ladder rungs, side members, an offset lift cord, cutouts in said side members extending substantially the full length of the spacing provided between slat spacings, said cutouts being located between alternate slat pairs.

3. A Venetian blind, slats, flexible ladder tapes for supporting said slats in spaced relation, an offset lift cord located near the edge of said slats, said flexible tape folding inside a portion of the edge of said slats and inside said offset lift cord when a bl i d'i ii i ed. e ts i s d flexibl tape between said slats'where said tape folds inside of the edge of said slats, said cutouts clearing said lift cord in said folded position of said tape side member.

4. A Venetian blind having slats, a ladder tape for supporting said slats in spacedrelaticnshila' an offset lift cord, a portion of said side mem,

bers of said ladder tape folding inside of the edge of said slats when said blind is raised, cutouts in said side members wide enough to clear said l t icorfci s id. suv auts be ign; th porti n o sa s e rs. which f01d$ in as M the ed o said slats. I I

5; A Venetian blind hayingrslats, ,a ladder tape fo p orting an le s in Sp c d r la ionship an offset lifft' 'cord,a portion of the side members of saidladder tape folding inside of the ed e'of said slats whensaid'blindjis' raised, cutouts in said side nie'mberswicle enough to clear said fffset lift cord, saidicuto uts being in the portion of said s'id'e'me nbers whichjfoldsfmside of the edge o a s s. said side mamas heme m ulded b plastic material. v ,6- AfVefi ifan blind havin slat a ladder L li an offset lift cord, a portion of the side members I of said ladder tape folding inside of the edge QP QPP eeaid -s et$ i s aced relat nsh p; a

of said slats when said blind is raised, cutouts in said:side; members wide enough to clear said offset lift cord, said cutouts being in the portion of said sidemembers which folds inside of the edge; of said slats, said side members being moulded of plastic material, reinforcing strips moulded into said side members along side of said outputs, the other side or said laddertape away fromsaid'oifset lift cord having similar cutouts.

, BROOKS REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this, patent:-

; UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 4: Name Date Re.22,755 v Herron May 14, 1946 2,017,541 Kuyper'. Oct. 15, 1935 ,457,443 1B ent; Dec. as, 1945 

